Most consumer equipment, especially electronics, and much commercial equipment comes carefully packaged in rigid foam or other sturdy and form-fitting packaging material designed to cushion and hold the equipment firmly within an outer box. Where the equipment is mass produced and automatically packaged, custom-formed packing inserts are the norm. Where economies of scale cannot justify the costs of design, tooling, and production of specialized inserts, other packing materials are desired. The desire for a flexible and inexpensive packing material is particularly relevant to the repair and reconditioning industry. In particular, substantially sized equipment such as printers, television sets, and similar bulky items.
In addition to custom-fitting inserts, so-called packing “peanuts” or “shells” are sometimes used. Such loose packing typically comprises foam or cellulose pellets that are poured around equipment once placed in the outer box. Drawbacks include the shifting of the pellets during handling of the box and the danger of small particles or fibers separating from the pellets and infiltrating the equipment. Even when the equipment is wrapped in plastic, the tiny fibers and particles from pellets are messy and can infiltrate the equipment during unpacking.
For small to medium size items, a series of airbags are offered as packing material by companies such as Polyair Inter Pack, Inc. Polyair's Airspace Pillow Packaging System™ is typical in comprising a series of rectangular airbags of thin plastic that are initially held together along perforated edges. When packing equipment or small items, the requisite number of airbags are torn off and packed around the shipped items. Among disadvantages are the inability to tightly pack bulky items both because the airbags are made of easily broken thin membranes and because it is difficult to tightly pack airbags that are already inflated. This disadvantage is particularly likely to occur near the lower portions of outer boxes since fingers and hands become blocked by the airbags themselves. A product brochure with pictorial and text explanations is found at www.polvair.com.
Another example of an airbag packing system is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,398,501 issued Aug. 27, 1968 to Aninger. According to its Abstract, this patent teaches a method and equipment for the packing of complex, irregularly shaped fragile and delicate articles of merchandise selectively. The packing is accomplished by means of an inflatable pneumatic cushion configuration adapted to be placed around the article of merchandise and to be joined through fastening means which are integral with said pneumatic cushion. Unfortunately, however, the need to fasten the extensions, or fingers, of the balloon in Aninger limits the size of item that can be packaged with any particular balloon. Also, as noted in column 2, lines 1–4 and in FIG. 4 (where the balloon conforms to the detailed contours of the packaged item), the balloon material in Aninger is “expandable”, or elastic. As discussed below, such elasticity works well for the fragile and delicate items contemplated in Aninger but would be detrimental if used to package bulkier, more massive items.
It would be desirable to have inexpensive, versatile, non-contaminating and easily installed inner packaging material, especially one suitable for packaging bulky and fairly massive items such as office equipment.
One embodiment of the invention is an air bladder packaging system for packing an item having sides in an outer box having walls wherein a space exists between a side and a wall, such packaging system comprising: an inflatable center body for placement proximate to one surface of the item; a plurality of inflatable fingers attached to the center body and having a length, at least a portion of the length being designed for placement along a side of the item in the space between the side and a wall of the outer box; and a valve through which compressed gas may be inserted into the air bladder; wherein, once sufficient gas is inserted, a portion of the finger spans the space between the side of the item and the wall of the box.
Another embodiment of the invention is an air bladder packaging system for packing an item having sides, such packaging system comprising: an outer container having walls wherein a space exists between a side of the item and a wall; an inflatable center body for placement proximate to one surface of the item; a plurality of inflatable fingers attached to the center body and having a length, at least a portion of the length of a first inflatable finger being designed for placement along a first side of the item in the space between the side and a wall of the outer box wherein the fingers are comprised of essentially inelastic material and wherein a second finger has a length and at least a portion of the length of the second finger is designed for placement along a second side of the item; and a valve through which compressed gas may be inserted into the air bladder; wherein, once sufficient gas is inserted, a portion of the finger spans the space between the side of the item and the wall of the container.